The Newsie Girl
by 1monster2
Summary: A new girl joins the Manhattan Newsies and becomes known as Juliet. However, she is harboring a secret. What happens when the Newsie boys discover it? Please read and review! (sorry I'm so bad at summaries!)
1. Meet Meg

**A/N: Hello, all! First off, for those of you reading "Trouble On The Ponderosa" or "Merlin and Lady Alliana" (I think that's how it's spelled), I WILL BE CONTINUING THOSE! I have just had a **_**ton**_** of theater stuff going on (Peter Pan, Regionals, the Hobbit) and this is the first time I've really had to do any writing. Also, I have a big escape attempt to write for TOTP, and will be planning that out tomorrow while the rest of my APLAC classmates finish the state writing test. This story came out of my brain this morning, after reading some other Newsies fanfics. Currently, this story is beta-less, so I apologize for any mistakes on my part like spelling or grammer. Also, I have not seen the show, and so will be going off of all the videos and things I've watched and read about the cast. Also important note: I know the cast has changed a couple times now (Jack, Crutchie, Medda, Specs, Katherine, and more), but for this story, the cast is the original one from Paper Mill Playhouse-Jeremy Jordan as Jack, Andrew Keenan-Bolger as Crutchie, etc. **

**Now, I do believe this author's note has gone on long enough (and my Newsies muse-Crutchie the puppy-is telling me to start already), so sit back, relax, and enjoy!**

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN NEWSIES AND NEVER WILL.**

It was a normal October 12th, 1899 in New York City. The tree leaves were turning orange, red, and gold, and there was a slight chill in the air, signaling the change from summer to fall. At nine in the morning, a lot of people were already at work-including the Manhattan newsies, who were selling their papers up and down the street. Ever since the strike a few months ago, the newsies' lives had become a little more bearable. They had beaten the publishing giant Joseph Pulitzer, and kept the price of their papes from rising any higher then they already were. They also got The Refuge closed, so no newsies would ever get messed up there again.

Crutchie was sitting on a bench outside of a park, enjoying the slight breeze. His gimp leg had been acting up as of late, and he was glad to get the chance to put it up for a minute. Suddenly, he heard a loud commotion. Swinging his head around, he finally noticed two boys cornering Smalls, the only girl newsie, up against a wall in a nearby alley. One reached out and slapped her across the face. "You trys to sells us a pape, and lie 'bout da headline? Who yous think yous are, girly?" he sneered. Smalls didn't respond-except to stick out her tongue. The other boy pulled back his fist to punch Smalls in the jaw. By this point, Crutchie had gotten up and began to hobble his way over. Before he got there, however, a young girl's voice rang through the alley. "You alls best be leaving her 'lone now, iffn you know whas gud fur ya." Everyone turned to see the speaker. She was tall, but scrawny, with blond hair and blue-green eyes, and looked to be about 12 years old. She wore clothes similar to what the newsies wore, but hers were more tattered and ragged. She stepped closer and spoke again. "Iffn yous don't leave, I is gonn make yous leave."

"Jus try an stop us!" the first boy declared. The second smirked. "I knows you-yous that orphan from 6th who nobody cares bout. Got no job, no money, no food-and jus a burden to normal folks like ourselfs." The young girl sighed-and then kicked the second boy in the groin. He went down howling, and his friend turned to back him up. This allowed Smalls to break free, and punch the first in the face. He also fell to the ground. They would have gotten back up, but Crutchie stared them down, and they complied, staying on the ground. "Iffn yous try to soak Smalls a-gayne, there's gonna be more where that came from. Now scat, 'for I wallop the both of ya." Crutchie stated. The two boys nodded, and ran off as fast as they could. Crutchie ran a quick eye over Smalls, assessing her for injuries, before turning to the newcomer. "Thanks for backing Smalls up." he said. The girl smiled. "Always happy ta lend a hand." she said, shaking Crutchie's hand. "Is wha them boys said true?" Smalls pryed. "Is you really an orphan?" The girl thought for a second, and then replied, "Kind of. My ma and pa and da rest o my family lives somewheres else-I's the only one 'round here." Crutchie and Smalls looked at each other, and nodded at the same time. "Come with us." Crutchie said. "Iffn Jack likes you, yous could have a job an' a place to live by tonight. Sound good?" The girl nodded, and followed the two newsies as they headed for the Lodging House. "I'm Margaret, by the way, but most call me Meg." the girl murmured. Smalls nodded. "Nice ta meet ya, Meg. My name's Smalls, an' his is Crutchie." At Meg's confused look, Smalls continued, "We's both newsies, see, and all newsies is known by anickname, instead of they's actual name." Meg nodded.

"That's pretty cool." she grinned.

**So, what did you think? I'm sorry if I goofed up the accents...I've read a couple stories where they have accents, but I've never actually written in one before. Also, if I portray the characters incorrectly, please let me know! (again, flying by the seat of my pants here.) Please review! All reviews (whether good or bad) help me become a better writer, and help Crutchie the puppy not go any crazier then he already is. ;)**

**Thanks a ton-next chapter should be up s****oon!**


	2. Shut up, Race!

**A/N: Hello again, everyone! First off, I want to apologize to everyone who read the first chapter while the last couple sentences were messed up...Google Docs really doesn't like that chapter. A big thank you to laxgrl21, who caught that mess up! Again, thanks to mre1213 for altering me to the fact that Smalls is actually a guy. For this story, I'm going to keep her as a girl, just because it would take forever for me to change it (fixing the first chapter took about an hour...and like 10 tries...). I hope that doesn't throw anybody! ;) I also kind of need Smalls to be a girl, so... (for certain plot thingies.)**

**Thanks also to everybody who reviewed! Crutches the puppy is full of ideas, and demanding that I write all of them. :) That said: enjoy Chapter Two!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Newsies. Nope.**

After Crutchie and Smalls finished selling all of their papers, the two of them, along with Meg, started for the Lodging House, where all the newsies lived. By the time they arrived, it was nearly five o' clock in the afternoon. From outside, they could hear loud noises and shouting. Meg shied back a little, but Crutchie and Smalls pulled her along. "Come on-yous is gonna be fine." Crutchie said. "Da only one yous gonna need ta worry about is Romeo, but he won't mess with ya."

"Why not?" Meg asked. She didn't understand-why would Crutchie tell her to watch out for Romeo if he wasn't going to mess with her?

"Romeo sells most of his papes by flirting with the girls 'round here." Smalls explained. "But if yous a fellow newsie, he won't try anything." She opened the door, and the two newsies ushered Meg in. The three headed up some stairs, into a large room. About ten boys were playing cards-poker, by the looks of it-and others were simply sitting around and talking. As the three stepped further into the room, some of the newsboys looked up from their conversations. One boy in particular stood up and walked over to them. "Heya, Crutch. Who's this?" he asked, gesturing to Meg. Meg gulped. She recognized this boy from the papes she would find in the streets a few months ago. This was Jack Kelly-the leader of the newsie strike. She quietly gulped. "Don't say anything stupid, Meg." she thought to herself. "Jack, this is Meg. She helped Smalls avoid a soaking, and ran off them Clancy brothers who's been given us problems." Jack looked down at the nervous young girl. "Really? And jus how did yous do that?" Meg looked down at her feet before muttering, "I kicked da older one in the groin. Smalls took care of da other one." As the four talked,more and more newsies were halting their conversations and heading over to eavesdrop on them. Jack nodded slightly. "You did, did yous?" Meg nodded. Crutchie then spoke up. "She been liven on 6th street by herself, an we was thinkin dat maybe she could help us out, since a few of our guys are down sick."

"You ain't got a family?" a boy on the outside asked. He had a long face, and a nice looking shiner underneath his right eye. He also had a cigar sticking out of his mouth. Smalls scowled at him. "Shut up, Race!" she declared. Race rolled his eyes. "I has a family," Meg muttered, "but dey moved to Jersey or something when I was small." She looked away from Race, and happened to look straight at two boys. Both had short black hair and brown eyes. One was much taller then the other. Both of them smiled gently at her, and she looked away quickly, blushing.

"You wanna be a newsie?" Jack asked firmly. Meg looked back up at him and nodded twice. "You willin' ta work hard and long hours for little money?" Again a nod. Jack sighed, looking over at Crutchie, who nodded.

"How old are you?"

"12 years."

Jack smiled. "Well, boys, looks like we's got ourselfs a younger sista!" He stuck out his hand to Meg, who shook it. "Welcome to the newsie family." he murmured. Meg smiled. "Thanks." she said. Then, a nearby boy, who looked to Meg to be about nine years old, ran up to Jack. "Jack! What's her nickname going to be?" All the boys gazed curiously at Jack. "Whad about...Juliet?" Race cried. Everyone turned to him. "Why Juliet?" another newsie asked. "Well, Juliet was da girl who killed herself over a boy, right, Davey?" Davey, who was the taller boy Meg had looked at, nodded. "Yeah," he spoke up, "she fell in love with-"

"Dat's why." Race interrupted. "Since yous been talking, she can't stop staring at Romeo!" The room erupted into laughter as Meg blushingly looked away from Romeo, who she had indeed been staring at again. Jack grinned. "Juliet it is, den."

Meg-or now, Juliet-smiled. Just the day before, she had been living by herself underneath a bridge on 6th street. Now, she had gained a bunch of new friends, and-if Jack's description of the newsie gang was true-a lot of older brothers.

**This one actually went better than I thought it would! :) I'm happy with the chat with Jack that Meg has...that's what scared me the most about this chapter, but I think I got it pretty well... what do you guys think? I also worked on toning down the accent, like laxgrl21 suggested...I've decided not to give some characters the accent (Davey, Les, Katherine, Pulitzer, a couple others). This is because I see them as kind of a higher class of New Yorker, and so wouldn't have exactly the same accent the others do. Therefore, they talk like regular people.**

**Also, for those who are wondering, yes, Katherine will be in this story. She should be introduced in the next chapter or so. I'm excited to try my hand at writing her!**

**Hope you all are having a great day! :) The next chapter should be up soon!**


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